The offensive line has played a similarly crucial role. Last year’s three-peat champions sported three offensive linemen who would go on to sign NFL contracts—Anthony Fabiano, Adam Redmond, and Cole Toner.

Forced to fill these gaps, the 2016 offensive line has struggled at times but shown signs of improvement. Last week the unit opened up sizable holes, allowing junior running back Semar Smith to tally three touchdowns.

“We have tremendous potential,” junior lineman Larry Allen said. “We could be near, up to, and if not equal to the line from last year. I know that sounds ridiculous, but we can.”

And then there are the other senior presences: quarterback Joe Viviano, halfback Anthony Firkser, defensive tackle James Duberg, and defensive tackle Doug Webb. Largely thanks to the Viviano-Firkser combination, for example, Harvard sports the highest third-down efficiency rate in the FCS at 58 percent.

Any team seeking to derail Harvard’s 16-game road train must overcome these old-hand talents. Pujals or not, the Crusaders face a tall task on Saturday.

Then again, so does the Crimson in adapting itself to a new environment. As Murphy indicated, no matter how long a streak Harvard has built, winning away from home remains a challenge.

“It’s something we always talk about—embrace the things that are harder,” Murphy said. “The most important thing we do as coaches is building adversity skills. Why? Because as hard and grinding a sport as football can be, life at times can be a heck of a lot harder.”

—Staff writer Sam Danello can be reached at sam.danello@thecrimson.com.